


I know. Thank you.

by Es_Aitch



Series: Twelfth Doctor One Shots  Series 9 [5]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart mentioned, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-16
Updated: 2015-11-16
Packaged: 2018-05-02 00:44:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5227367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Es_Aitch/pseuds/Es_Aitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Missing scene from "Zygon Inversion".  Because there needs to be more Doctor and Kate Lethbridge-Stewart interaction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I know. Thank you.

The Doctor activated his sonic glasses and everyone slowly collapsed to the ground. Everyone except for himself and Kate Lethbridge-Stewart. Kate looked around surprised as the Doctor removed and pocketed his sonic sunglasses. “I… I don’t understand.”

“Of course you don’t.”

“You wiped all of their memories but not mine?”

The Doctor looked around as if Kate had just pointed out something surprising to him. “Them? Oh, no. Not yet. Just put them to sleep. I wanted to talk to you before I did any of that and this was the only way to make that happen.”

She raised an eyebrow as she stared at him. “You’re going to wipe my mind after this, so what’s the point?”

He offered her a fond smile. But said nothing.

She nodded. She felt like she had an idea of where this was going, but she owed it to the Doctor to let him have his peace. She gestured to the other side of the secure box that currently housed a Mire Helmet, where she knew there was a table and chairs. Besides, looking at the unconscious group of five was disconcerting. “Won’t you step into my office?”

He followed and slumped into one of the proffered chairs. They both sat in silence for some minutes. “Kate, I’ve known about you nearly your entire life.”

That wasn’t a lie. Regardless of what the Brig did or didn’t tell his family about the affiliation he had with the Doctor, the Doctor had kept tabs on his oldest earth-bound friend.

He continued, “One of the things I know is that I’m about the only person you ever apologise to.”

“And the way I did just now was entirely different from any time in the past.”

He nodded once. Kate remained silent for some moments. After everything she just heard, she felt he deserved this much. Still, she had to protest, just a little. Just to let him know that ‘Tiger’ was still alive and well. “You were one of Dad’s oldest and most trusted friends. And from his stories, I’d like to think I know a few things about you too.”

The Doctor was intrigued about where this might be going. He nodded to encourage her to continue. “Because of those stories, I don’t for a minute believe you’ve put yourself through this sixteen times.”

He smiled a weak and tired smile, but it was answer enough for Kate. They did know each other that well even if it was only through stories.

She nodded in reply. “I've admired you for a long time. And today, how did I choose to honour that? By trying to get you to tell me which button to press! I should have known better. I should have trusted you more.”

The Doctor continued to offer that tired and weak smile. “I knew you’d make the right decision, Kate. I trust that you always will.”

“But I almost didn’t!”

He reached across the table and rested one of his hands on top of hers. “Kate, you will. Even when I don’t agree with how you get to your decisions, I trust you’ll make the right one.”

His smile then became almost teasing. “You didn’t hear what I told you.”

She looked confused. “You said, ‘Thank you.’ I said, ‘Sorry.’ You said, ‘I know. Thank you.’”

“You heard my words, not what I was saying.”

Kate was quiet for a long moment and then the realisation struck her. She slowly stood and came around the table. The Doctor swivelled in his chair to face her. She knelt in front of him. A single tear tracked its way down her cheek. Every ounce of her wanted to protest the forgiveness he was offering. Which is exactly what he said people do.

She looked at him for a long moment and she saw all of his faces, those etched with great sadness and those that twinkled at the prospect of a new adventure. And she realised that the things this alien gave so freely to everyone else were the things he desperately wanted and needed.

She thought about their exchange on Boat One about how her father wanted a salute from him and the Doctor’s reply ‘He should have asked.’ Her father would have never asked, she knew that. So she knew in the same way, this alien would never ask for what he needed either.

She wasn’t sure if she had the right. But right now, in this room, there was literally no one else. She lifted a hand to cup his cheek and gave it a gentle stroke with her thumb.

The Doctor frowned for a moment. So Kate continued. “We have bits and pieces about the Time War on file, but I never thought about the hell it must have been for you. Given how humanity seems bent on inventing ways to destroy ourselves… Well, you could become bitter or just give up on us. But you don’t. You’re always there, you always come back, even if it’s not always when we think we need you.”

The Doctor’s face contorted again. Kate leaned in and gave him a hug. “You wear your guilt like a shroud. But you never let it consume you to the point of giving up. I admire you for that.”

The Doctor slowly gave in to the hug. And that was when Kate decided to offer the words she thought he desperately needed to hear. “Doctor, I forgive you. I know that probably doesn’t mean much coming from a simple human. But I do.”

She could hear him sniffle. But he didn’t pull away. “From you, it means more than you could ever know. And the point, Kate, is that it doesn’t matter if you’ll remember this or not. _I_ will.”

After a few moments, they returned to the other part of the room. The Doctor activated his glasses again, waking Clara and Bonnie, while erasing the memories of the other three.


End file.
